


What the Flip did you just Do?

by shipskicksandgiggles



Series: Jaime's Parkner week 20biteen [7]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Angst, High ropes course, M/M, Uncle Rhodey is the best, can be read as friendship or relationship, harley is a nerd
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-08
Updated: 2019-08-08
Packaged: 2020-08-13 05:29:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20168932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shipskicksandgiggles/pseuds/shipskicksandgiggles
Summary: “It had been awhile since he’d been up on one, but it was like riding a bike. Swinging up onto the bars, between them, up-over-around-down again.”The Avengers have a rough mission. Harley helps a little





	What the Flip did you just Do?

**Author's Note:**

> day 7 is coming in a little late, sorry y’all. I drove 4 hours today and didn’t have internet
> 
> prompt: cartwheels // angst // “Hurricane Tortilla”

One of Stark Tower’s greatest kept secrets was the gymnastics studio. The training gym had some equipment for it, but the studio was known by maybe 5 people. 

Natasha Romanov and Peter Parker used it the most. The spiders had complete freedom to use the space top to bottom. Steve and Clint knew about it, and helped train the first two on some occasions, or in Clint’s case, sometimes just used it for himself. Tony only knew about it because he built it. It was unclear if he remembered it. 

Until one day, they were all off on a top secret Avengers mission on the other side of the world. A worried Harley Keener wandered the tower, unable to sleep due to his worry. He loved these people like family. They couldn’t get hurt. 

In his wandering he found a door that shouldn’t exist. 

“Hey JARVIS?”

“ _ Yes Master Keener?” _

He touched the surface, afraid to go in. “What’s this?”

“ _ The gymnastics studio, Sir. Miss Romanov and Mr. Parker use it to keep up on their skills.” _

Huh. Okay.

The door opened into a wide room complete with monkey bars, obstacle courses both on the ground and above, and… were those trapeze ropes?

JARVIS started walking him through the different purposes of the equipment. Harley didn’t listen to a word it, already hoisting himself up onto a high ropes platform. It had been awhile since he’d been up on one, but it was like riding a bike. Swinging up onto the bars, between them, up-over-around-down again. 

Going through the motions of his old routine calmed him. He’d nearly forgotten about his anxiety by the time anyone found him. 

“Hey kid,” Rhodey said from the doorway. “So you found this place?”

Harley dropped from the rock wall he was scaling. “You know about this place?”

“Helped build it. You know how to use it?” he asked. 

“There was an old abandoned park thing in Rose Hill. I found it one day during the summer while running from everything at home. Learned how to use the equipment from that. It all came back when I saw this.” Harley motioned around him. “This is my home.”

Rhodey nodded. “Wanna run low cope? The team should be back by the time you’re done.”

Before Harley could even ask, Rhodey assured him that no one was severely injured, just a few scrapes and bruises. 

The low cope routine turned into a challenge. Rhodey would tell out a move Harley had to do to get over whatever he was doing, and he’d do it most of the time, much to Rhodes’ chagrin. They never even saw Peter walk in. 

When Peter saw what they were doing, he chucked and limped over to the room controls. He hit a button to trigger earthquake mode, and the room shook, causing Harley to fall out mid-cartwheel. 

“Hurricane Katrina? More like Hurricane Tortilla!” he yelled, bringing the attention to himself. 

“Why did you do that! I was winning!” Harley screamed frustratedly. He turned to Rhodey. “Do-over later?”

“Sure kiddo. Now go make sure he’s okay.”

“Thanks Uncle Rhodey!” 

He ran over to Peter. “How was the mission?”

Instead of verbally responding, Peter lifted his shirt. His sides were covered in a wide array of bruises. 

Harley hissed. “Does it hurt?”

Peter nodded. 

“Wanna order in and watch Disney movies?”

Another nod. 

“Okay.” He lead them to the elevator and told JARVIS to lead them up to the floor they shared. The order for food was placed and Harley began swaddling Peter in blankets. 

“Can we watch Big Hero 6?” Peter asked timidly.

“We can watch anything you want,” said Harley, already queueing up the movie. 

The food arrived and they watched the movie in silence. Nearly the end, Peter finally spoke up. 

“There were kids involved.”

Harley looked at him in surprise. He continued, “It was like Nat’s Black Widow program, but worse. We barely got them out before the building blew up too.” There were tears rolling down his face. “One girl, she was just a baby, I’m talking about 2 or 3 years old at the most, she just looked at me with dead eyes. No emotion.” 

He started full on sobbing before he even finished, and Harley pulled him to his chest. “But she’s out now. She’ll be rehomed, given a real childhood. All of them will. You saved her, darlin’. It’s what you do.”

Peter sniffed and shook his head. “But there’ll always be more of them.”

“And you’ll save them too.”

“It still hurts.”

“I know sweetheart, but if you keep fighting, so will they.”

He slowly agreed. “Can we watch another movie?”

“Yeah. Got one in mind?”

He didn’t, so Harley chose a mindless art documentary he had on his Netflix list. 

“Pfft. Nerd,” whispered Peter from his spot in Harley’s chest. 

“Like you aren’t,” Harley returned. “Just take a nap while I watch. Heal. I’m just here to be your pillow.”

“Oh wait before you play it.” Peter squirmed so he could look up at Harley. “You know how to use the gymnastics studio. I have questions.”

“It’s… a long story,” he decided. Definitely not one to tell while Peter is still healing. “Maybe I’ll tell you tomorrow, once you’ve recovered.”

Peter huffed. “Fine,” he grumbled, as he settled in to watch the documentary. 

He was asleep within minutes. His face was peaceful while he was sleeping, Harley noticed. Angelic and sweet. 

“JARVIS?” he whispered. 

The AI made a humming noise so as to not wake Peter. 

“Pause this when I fall asleep please? I don’t want to miss anything.”

JARVIS hummed again, and with the added weight of the boy in his lap, he started dozing not even half way through. Their lives were hectic and painful, but here in this moment, there was peace. 

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr at [parallelparkner](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/parallelparkner/)


End file.
